Name/Logo Change

I began my creative journey with Autism Valued (AV) in mid-2025. With the logo change, I was responsible for removing "Aspergers Victoria" and replacing it with our new name, "Autism Valued", as well as producing different variations (black and white versions; and high and low res versions), and ensuring the colour schemes were consistent.

Autism Valued (formally known as Aspergers Victoria) is a peer-led, not-for-profit organisation that supports and celebrates the strengths of autistic and neurodivergent individuals. Since 1991, AV has been driven by the power of peer support and lived experiences to empower the autistic and neurodivergent community. 

AV’s mission and values are to empower autistic people by helping them build confidence, independence, and resilience. We recognise autism and neurodivergence as a natural variation of human neurology. We focus on our strengths-based approach and celebrate the unique abilities, perspectives, and creativity of autistic individuals. We also have a wide range of community connections where we provide safe spaces for autistic people and their families. 

Prior to 2013, Asperger’s was seen as a separate condition from autism. The latest edition of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)) removed Asperger’s Syndrome as a separate diagnosis in 2013 and incorporated it into the broader autism spectrum. Over the last 10 years, the term "neurodiversity" started gaining significant traction towards people with ADHD, autism and other neurodevelopmental differences.

In early 2023, AV officially announced their name change project, which had been in discussion for several years since the DSM change. AV’s name change process has been very involved and has been in the making for nearly 3 years. AV initially had 120 name options; we sought community feedback from all those options, hosted focus groups, member forums, and consultations. The creative delivery of our new logo name, colour scheme, and registration has been a significant focus for AV in 2025.

We decided on a name that reflects:

• The mission of the organisation, where the strengths of our community are celebrated, realised and valued.

• Removing the geographic reference.

• Retaining the visual look and feel and graphic device (spectrum coloured brain), as well as the ‘Spectrum of possibilities’ tagline.

• The most recent diagnostic naming convention changes from the DSM-5 and support positive associations with our organisation's services.

• Alignment with our current services and strategic plans to better support our community, now and in the future.

• The equity and familiarity we have with the acronym 'AV', brand colours and visual devices, including the brain icon.

• The advice from legal professionals on names that are protectable in trademark terms, available for business and domain name registration and do not conflict with existing organisations in Australia or overseas offering services or content supporting the Autistic community.